Not a City of Angels
by aforallyyyyyyx
Summary: Barry was aware that he didn't know everything about what Reverse Flash did to the timeline, but what he didn't count on was ghosts from his high school days coming back to get him. He knows it all has to do with an eleven year old girl, Lily Anderson, but her brother, Blaine, wants to know why Barry (or is it Sebastian?) changed so drastically after Dalton. (multi-chap, cliche.)
1. Chapter 1

**Hello! Welcome to the story. I hope your trip that occured clicking the title wasn't too long. Traveling safely, and all that. Anyway, I'm going to admit that this story has an OC, which I named Lily for all intents and purposes. Along with an OC comes cliches and powers, which I tried to stay away from, but it failed miserably. I will be publishing some of my other Flash/Glee stuff, but I'm just warning you in advance that this fanfic in particular is most likely awful. Even so, I thought there _might_ be someone out there who would read it, and if you fall into that category, I love you. Without further ado, here is the story. :)  
**

 **Some additional notes about this AU: (SKIP if you would rather figure it out on your own)  
**

 ** _Not a City of Angels_ takes place in Central City, Ohio, in the year 2013, just like on Season 1 of _The Flash_. **

**The premise is that _Glee_ occurred around 2006-2008 ("Sebastian's" time that is), and that Sebastian was just the creation of an insecure teenage Barry, who moved to Westerville, a suburb outside of Central to live with his uncle, Christopher Smythe, after suffering bullying his freshman and sophomore year of high school. Barry changed his name back, later, but he hasn't spoken to anyone from Dalton or McKinley in years, so they are unaware of what's been happening with him. **

**You can guess what happens next...**

 **Anyway. Here is the story.**

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

 _Nov 11, 2013 9:00 AM_  
 _One month before the Particle Accelerator explodes_

The sound of rain battering on the roof of the rental was all Blaine could hear as he drove in the dark with trembling hands. The car was an Audi, and if Blaine wanted to think more, he'd have thought to ask for a better one.

But Blaine didn't care. A man as he should have, would have, prowled the Hertz carpark in the early hours of dawn, fresh off his morning flight. The unusually good-natured attendant and would ave held a brief conversation with him as he scoured for the mid-sized vehicle he liked. Maybe negotiated for an upgrade in the frosty sunlight, his family standing behind him with their luggage. Kurt would have acted the impatient angel he was. And now, Blaine was alone.

The shaking man was approaching Central City limits, his tanned hands gripping the steering wheel of the Audi with whiter knuckles. He briefly glanced into the front mirror at his reflection, an unusually handsome face for someone so broken. Damaged inside.  
Blaine couldn't even sigh. His eyes were wide, and his dark, gelled hair appeared mussed and frazzled in the light.

He didn't know where he was going, but he knew what he was- lost. Blaine drove in silence; he didn't dare turn on the radio. He couldn't.

"Squirt?" Blaine heard a voice as the car door was opened. "What're you-"

Blaine got out of the black Audi with unsteady feet, shivering in the winter morning. His small frame was covered suddenly by his brother's warm embrace. He found comfort at last.

* * *

Lily Anderson remembered the time her second-oldest brother came to stay with her and Cooper indefinitely. Or live in Central City, at least, if the latter was untrue.

Lily saw Blaine, heartbroken and numb, in the living room after her oldest brother found him sitting in some rental in their condo's garage as he was heading to work. She was only ten, but Lily agreed with Blaine. Her brother was broken.

Cooper didn't tell her what was going on with Blaine that first night. Lily didn't ask questions the second night, either. But on the fifth day, Lily listened to Cooper as he explained that Blaine was there to stay for awhile.

"Blaine is going through a tough time right now," said Cooper, and Lily nodded. She knew what that was like, or so she thought. She at least knew sadness.

"Is he coming to live with us?" asked Lily then, "Like when I did?" She watched Cooper's face for confirmation.

"Not exactly," Cooper said. "Just for a little bit. Until he gets…happy, again."

Lily knew Blaine wasn't in the best state of mind after coming back from New York, which was where he had been living for as long as Lily could remember. She just didn't understand- unless it had something to do with-

"Is it Kurt? Are they having a fight?" Lily sat up on the bed, her hazel-brown eyes moving to focus on Cooper as she solved the puzzle.  
Cooper lay a gentle hand on her shoulder, "Go to sleep, Li. We'll talk about it more tomorrow."

"I want to talk about it now" Lily said, "What about Blaine? Will I get to see Carole and Burt, still? What about our trip to New York next month? To see Rachel's big show with them?"

Lily had a million questions, and wondered if Cooper would even answer them. She was an astute guesser- very clever- and expected disappointment as her oldest brother said nothing, flipping a light switch slowly, leaving the room. She got it. Cooper just wouldn't admit it himself.

Lily spent that night tossing and turning, and eventually gave up on sleeping all together. One of her biggest hobbies in darkness like this was to grab a flashlight, a sketchbook, and a set of pencils and blending sticks.

She started by drawing her nightmares- and for a little girl at the age of 10, her drawings were scarily accurate to the average eye. Soon enough, a man began to take shape- the very man in a yellow suit that had killed her parents all those years ago...

* * *

 **And there you have it. The first chapter. If you liked it, review? I'm not going to be one of _those_ people, but I like to know that you're there. Even commenting a random word would be sufficient. **

**~AforAllyyyyyyx**

* * *

 **More AU stuff now that you've read the first chapter:**

 **When Blaine and Kurt split for good, Blaine goes to live in Central City, where Cooper lives until he's over the breakup. The Anderson parents have died, leaving another sibling, Lily, in the care of Cooper. Cooper gave up on acting and became a police officer at the CCPD once gaining custody of Lily.**


	2. Chapter 2

_Dec 11, 2013 8:53 PM_  
 _Day of Particle Accelerator Explosion_

* * *

The next week was more or less the same. They didn't talk about Blaine being there, even though they had plenty of opportunities the first couple of days.

What surprised Lily the most was that all of a sudden, at about the midpoint of the following week, Blaine was up, eyes shining, and the famous Anderson mask on his face. Lily and Cooper were even known to wear it, too, sometimes. But this time, it was all Blaine.

Lily noticed it slip at times, commonly at night when he thought no one else was around. Lily was, for she had a habit of putting her homework in her backpack after finishing it upstairs in her room. After slipping it in the correct folder, she would walk back upstairs, but not before seeing Blaine on the sofa, shaking silently in Cooper's arms. Blaine was always a quiet crier.

Lily watched her brother (the sad one) every day. She noticed him offering to play games, to sing, and to take her places. She responded to his suggestions with enthusiasm; Lily didn't ever get to go to the park or a movie with Cooper anymore. It was especially nice for her to not have to come to the CCPD every day when school was let out.

Blaine was waiting for Lily at her bus stop- her new one. That specific day, December 20th, Blaine took Lily to a spectacular event- but not just any event- the switching on of S.T.A.R. Labs' famed Particle Accelerator.

"Do you think it's going to work?" wondered Lily as Blaine led her to a spot on the rooftop of his brand new apartment- that's right, Blaine was now getting his own place. She had every intention of viewing the spectacle. Lily was excited.

A few other tenants were up there, as well. Lily smiled at them, her face bright, if not for the darkness around them. They politely nodded back.

The night was sharp, with only the icy remnants of fallen stars to guide them home. Under the shroud of ancient blackness, the two figures stood, not alone, but Lily experienced something of the sort very similar to the cold feeling of isolation. They weren't excited. Lily, in all her childish glory, had a heart bursting with anticipation. She just wished some people didn't grow up.

 _A rare opening of light split the darkness…_ Blaine was telling her something _…at its center…_ His tone frantic,… _Lily didn't move or blink, in…_ Blaine spoke, "Get out!" _a sudden haze…_

"Lily, I don't think this is safe, we have to go-"

She was waiting for the invasion to stop. It did.

"Come on!"

 _Three seconds more. Her body felt the prick of adrenaline, letting loose in her bloodstream like poison through a vein…_

Lily didn't like being afraid. She felt Blaine hoist her over his shoulders in a fireman's carry, and for a brief moment, saw the light from the Particle Accelerator, brilliant as the sun in the sky, but it was night. She could see the wave of energy coming closer, swelling her view of S.T.A.R. Labs. But it was storming, and as soon as Blaine tried to run, to try and get them to safety, the world went up in sparks, lightning, and and the worst of all, _there was the explosion…_

* * *

 **Blaine**

Blaine was floating. And no, not because of the events of the explosion that occurred in the exterior, but because he felt lost inside. Take any night, for example, where he would lay in solemn silence, just like this one. With the exception of the fire outside. As he lay in agony on the rooftop, unable to tell if he or Lily were alright, he could only think of his last night on Earth.  
 _  
_

* * *

 __"I think I should go, Kurt." __

 _Blaine squirmed under his duvet- rolling back and forth, achieving nothing but messing up his sheets._

"We can't go backwards!" __

 _His hands fisted at the comforter._

"By protecting something that is very precious to me." __

 _Tears welled in Blaine's eyes. This was a bad idea. A stupid idea. Why did he ever suggest this? And how could Kurt just agree so easily?_

"I'll visit Central City, with Coop. I don't know when or if I'll be back." __

 _Blaine turned over to bury his head in his pillow. It still had the smell of Kurt's cologne – obviously from the balled up shirt that he'd put earlier on his bed, after Cooper helped to move his stuff in. He had his own apartment now, in Central City. He was all moved out and it was over. That fact only made the tears worse._

 _Turning his head to the side, Blaine saw the time illuminated on his digital clock: 3:48 AM. This was getting ridiculous. Yes, sometimes his lack of good mental health meant Blaine could go well into the night without sleep, but now he had no one beside him to even wake up for. What was the point?_

 _Blaine huffed angrily at himself, turning over again to lie on his back- looking up at the blank ceiling of his new apartment, instead of the ceiling in the drafty old loft in New York City._

This is better, _he thought to himself._ It's obviously what Kurt wanted. He wanted you gone again. Do you not remember what happened the last time Kurt made a life by himself in New York? __

 _Blaine hated this. He knew it was just his self-consciousness. He really did. But it would also be a lie to say he hadn't believed all those things at least once in the past. So yes, he was the one to suggest calling their relationship quits- because he could see that losing Kurt now would only hopefully result in getting him back again later._

 _He just needed a sign- any sign- to tell him this was worth it._

 _As Blaine was about to get his iPad out of his bedside drawer for another game of Tetris, his phone screen lit up._

 _Kurt._

 _Blaine's heart was heavy, and he almost let out a sob when he slid across the screen to accept the call._

 _"Kurt," it came out soft and wispy, like saying anything else would instantly cause his fiancé to hang up on him._

 _"Hi, honey bee," Kurt said so sweetly on the other end._

 _There was a pause and Blaine sniffed loudly, holding back the tears._

 _"Kurt, it's nearly 4am. It's been two weeks…I just don't get why you're calling me…"_

 _There was no bite at all to Blaine's question- more a concern. Yet again, there was a small but comfortable lull in conversation as they processed the day's events._

 _"Kurt?"_

 _"Yeah, Blaine?"_

 _A beat._

 _"I really miss you."_

 _Kurt was waiting for it. He knew from the last time he and Blaine had been separated, things went bad very quickly. He knew Blaine had a problem with loneliness- never feeling like anyone could hear him, no matter how loud he shouted._

 _Kurt had learnt to prevent it ever reaching the point where Blaine had to shout to be heard. Which is why he was in bed at 4am, on the phone to his fiancé whom he knew would be beating himself up over what had happened._

 _"I miss you too, honey."_

 _Blaine breathed a sigh of relief on the other end and Kurt was sure he even heard a yawn, followed by Blaine settling down into his sheets._

 _"And Blaine?"_

 _"Yeah?" came the sleepy reply._

 _"I really just called to say one thing," a deep breath in, "I love you."_

* * *

 __And now, Blaine was dying. Well, it felt like he was dying. He would never speak to Kurt again, nevertheless return his "I love you".

He had no way to tell how much time had passed. Everything alternated between black and blinding white. When he awoke again, everything tasted like blood and smoke.

Sorting out his thoughts was nearly impossible, but his gut told him he was in trouble. He tried to push through the murky confusion and the searing pain to figure out where he was and how to get out. He tried turning his head to look to his left, and it hurt like hell. He could make out crumbled stone, bits of glass, smoke.

 _What happened?_


	3. Chapter 3

**Blaine**

He just wanted to see Kurt again. He wanted to tell him he was sorry for pushing him, for starting the argument that resulted in Blaine fleeing to stay with his older brother. He was so sorry for running away, for leaving him, for wasting what could have been their last weeks together.

He should have spent it with Kurt. They should have been snuggled up in bed together, twisted in the sheets, skin on skin, his forehead pressed against Kurt's, all arms and muscle and heat. He should have spent the night kissing his lips and whispering love into his chest and ears, he should have spent the night smelling and feeling and holding.

But he'd left.

And now, he might never see him again.

Blaine could feel the pain threatening to overtake him again, as salty tears trailed down his bloody face, stinging in the cuts and crevices. He struggled harder, hoping for just one last moment, maybe if he could hold on, they could at least say goodbye.

He turned to his right, trying to see if he could see an escape, a way out. But he was met with the face of another person. Blaine tried to scream, but couldn't.

The person was dead.

And the face was familiar.

Lily.

But all of a sudden, the building was rocking, and Blaine lost his balance- and as a second wave of dark energy was pushed out and away from the laboratory a block away, he fell.

* * *

 **Lily**

Lily stood paralyzed as the others on the rooftop started to scream and run. Lily couldn't understand what was happening. She couldn't think, she couldn't move.

Suddenly, smoke filled the air, the cries of the other ten around them mixed with the sound of cracking, crumbling, confusion. Lily felt like the world was falling down around her.

Lily didn't realize what was happening until it was too late. They were standing directly in the path of a lightning bolt from the storm, and the skyscraper the siblings were standing on gave them no advantage to avoid it.

Lily had only one thought before everything went dark with light, if that made any sense to her panicked brain at all.  
 _  
Good-bye._

* * *

 __That night, there were two types of people created the night the Particle Accelerator exploded- survivors, and metas.

If only the world was able to know what was coming. If only, because then, maybe, they could be prepared. Blaine fell off of the building, and gained wings to cover the night. Lily awoke with the extraordinary ability to run faster than any man or woman. There was only one exception- Bartholomew Sebastian Henry Allen- who was faster than she would ever be, but came to know the Anderson siblings well.

This is the story of Mercury and Nightbird, and how they helped protect Central City from crime and their biggest threat of all- themselves.

* * *

 **Origin story much?**

 **Lol.**

 **Thanks for reading :)**

 **~AforAllyyyyyyx**


	4. Chapter 4

**Cooper**

Cooper was on the clock at the Central City Police Department when the explosion occurred.

For a moment, he thought it was all part of the elaborate dream he experienced the other day when him and Blaine went out to a bar and left Lily with a sitter. They got completely wasted.

But the pounding in his head told him differently.

No, he was sober now. This was really happening.

He didn't know how long he stood there, staring at lights emitted from the Particle Accelerator just blocks away.

It crossed his mind that it was almost pretty. The orange and yellow reflection of fire against the blue and gray steel buildings were a bright contrast, accented by the clouds of black smoke, almost unseen in the night sky. It covered up stars and was occasionally lit up by lightning from the storm.

It was only the screams of people in the streets that brought him back to reality.

 _Blaine and Lily._

They had been watching the Particle Accelerator turn on from Blaine's new apartment, just a street away from S.T.A.R. Labs in the expensive business district. Their parents' inheritance had really paid off…

He ran.

He sprinted the few blocks, racing as fast his lungs would allow him.

People were swarming everywhere, and he pushed and squirmed to get to the spot where Blaine's apartment building was, using his police badge as an excuse.

The air was thick with smoke and the police were already closing off the area around the building.

"Blaine! Blaine!" He found himself screaming his name, his voice hoarse and high pitched.

"Blaine! Lily!" He pushed forward even further, despite the force of the crowd pushing him backwards.

Everywhere, other police and firefighters were trying to get people away from the building and under control.

His screams were lost in the ruckus of people all around him, calling out names, crying, screaming.

"Blaine!" He called out desperately again as another police officer pushed him backwards, one that he recognized as his partner, Eddie Thawne, who had followed him out the door. When he refused to be budged, Eddie, so hopelessly confused and concerned, had to forcibly put his hands on his shoulders and shift his back.

Just as he was about to push back against his partner, he saw it and all the fight was knocked out of him.

There were people lying on the ground, fallen from the observatory deck.

He stopped screaming. He stopped panicking. He stopped trying.

He vomited on the sidewalk.

An otherworldly calm settled over him and he just _knew_.

It felt like the earth was still shaking, to Cooper, but on a lower level than before. It was like he was trying to block all things out, but the only thing he could not was the acceptance. His kid brother and sister were lost.

* * *

 **Blaine**

Consciousness was a curse. It was strange how he swam toward it, struggling, pushing against the black mass of unknown; but as soon as he broke the surface of quiet calm into consciousness, he regretted it. Consciousness was pain. Nothing else.

Blaine struggled against the darkness, trying to grasp anything other than pain. Everything beyond the edges of the pain was murky, like vision underwater, or slurred, like speech and alcohol.

Pain was the only constant, and he found himself sadistically clinging to it. It was at least some semblance of sanity in his murky existence between consciousness and the unknown. So, he clung to it. When his mind stopped reeling, he tried to connect the pain to his body- if indeed he still had a body. But it seemed to be more engulfing than anything, too vast to connect with any one part of himself.

Without much hope of success, Blaine tried again to place the pain in something real, something corporeal, but body parts (their names and locations) seemed to be beyond his minds reach. He tried another track. How had he come to be here? What was here? When was here? But time, space, location- all eluded him.

The first thing he was able to grasp was a smell. It was acrid, tangy and burning. Every breath he took in was painful, thick and smoky.

Blaine could feel unconsciousness dragging him down again, and he struggled against it. He couldn't shake the feeling that if he closed his eyes, he wouldn't be able to open them again. He pushed against the crushing pain that was threatening to engulf him.

His body was giving out and the blackness started to creep up on the edges of his vision. Just as he finally lost consciousness, he realized the source of his pain with a flash of panic.

 _He had landed._

* * *

 **Cooper**

 _"And as we continue to cover the damage caused by the famed-Particle Accelerator explosion in Central City, Ohio, more bulletins are coming in. Fatalities are now reported to be at least 17 confirmed dead and countless injured. Central City is accepting police assistance from Starling City, as well as Keystone. S.T.A.R. Labs seems to be currently unavailable to tell us what went wrong just five days ago."_

The sound of the news reporter on the television barely made Cooper flinch. Five days had passed, and both of his siblings were alive, at least. At least Captain Singh at the C.C.P.D. had let him be relieved of his duties, even though Cooper knew that they needed all hands on deck.

Some were calling it the new 9/11, but Cooper disagreed. It was a science experiment gone wrong on a major scale, and his city and family had to pay the price. He was barely making it through this, his heart pumping blood either sluggishly in defeat, or erratically in fear of losing Lily or Blaine.

Cooper was alone, and he felt it.

He stood up, and strode over to the window of his apartment purposefully. He stared at the distant horizon. He surveyed the city, realizing that of all the moments he had felt utterly and spectacularly alone in the metropolis, he had never experienced anything like this before.

He felt alone in raising Lily, who was but six years old when their father killed himself and their mother. Such a task for a man at thirty, with a semi-stable job as a police officer for the C.C.P.D. to pay the bills. Of course it had to be him to take her, for Blaine was twenty-one and still in the musical theatre program at N.Y.U., and wouldn't ever dream of raising a child there, of all places. Especially while he was still in college and in a heavy relationship with Kurt Hummel, who, four years later, apparently broke off their engagement just weeks before the Particle Accelerator exploded. Kurt was here, though, in Central City, with Blaine at the hospital. Cooper was only meant to be at the apartment to change and shower, before he had to get back to Lily, who was still in critical condition.

"I promise." He whispered as he stared at the sky through the window.

When the thick silence hung in the air and carried no reply, he repeated himself.

"I promise."

 _Silence._

What he was promising, he wasn't sure, but Lily and Blaine needed him. And with that, Cooper grabbed his car keys and left. 


	5. Chapter 5

_Sept 13, 2014 6:07 AM_  
 _Eight months after the Particle Accelerator explosion_

When Lily awoke, she became aware of an array of tubing around her ears and in her nose. It tickled, and she wondered why she hadn't woken up sooner. But as her eyes adjusted to the light in the room- which took awhile, considering that her eyelids felt heavier than any weight she had ever lifted- she heard the beeping of monitors, a chorus of sounds she was halfway convinced they were on the way to destroy her soul.

"Nurse! Nurse Kathy!"

She heard the spamming of a button, and Lily felt an oncoming headache. She whimpered.

"I know, sweetie, it's okay, don't move. Coop's here, he'll make you feel better."

All the while annoyingly spamming a button. Somehow, Lily wasn't convinced. She began to get frustrated, like the kind of frustrated you would get when you were sick, but you couldn't do anything about it. It started with a pull in her chest and tears pricking in her eyes, but she felt so weak and disconnected with the world that it didn't even matter.

"Oh, thank god."

"Lily, sweetie, don't pull at the cords. Just let them do their job, and you'll be fine."

"She's okay. She's okay."

Lily heard the smatterings of conversations that came with being woken up by people talking. Only two people came to mind, and it was her brothers.

"Coop," she attempted to whisper, but nothing came out. She saw Cooper and Blaine's faces above her, one kneeling, and the other repeatedly spamming the button by her bedside.

But the noise was alright, because she was alive. She's okay.

* * *

 _Dec 14 2014 12:34 PM_  
 _One year after the Particle Accelerator explosion_

"Hi, Lily. Was that…what are you drawing?" Cooper said, dropping a folder on the brown table, "I'm gonna need my chair back- Blaine's here, he's gonna- that's the Flash!"

Lily looked up dimly, silently putting her coloring supplies down to acknowledge her brothers. She could see her drawing had attracted their attention; perhaps that was the whole point. It was a good drawing, however. Lily shook her head, innocent hazel eyes widening inquisitively, "Not the Flash, Coop. The Flash doesn't wear yellow."

She continued to fill in the red eyes of the man in the picture. Cooper and Blaine exchanged a look, for Lily's drawing was quite realistic. Lily liked to draw when she was alone, and especially so after she had woken up from the coma. She knew it was because she could color _faster_ than ever before.

Out of the corner of her eye, Lily could see Cooper's colleague, Joe, and another whom she hadn't yet met. He was tall; both of them. The stranger had light brown hair, but it was sandier (and darker) than Cooper's. Lily noticed them watching from the corner, eyes zeroed in on her drawing.

Meanwhile, Cooper had gently taken Lily from the large office chair, sat down, and moved the child to his lap.

"Lily," Cooper prodded his little sister gently, "Can you, er," There was a pause, and Blaine, who stood patiently beside the desk, was nodding vaguely.

"Can you tell me more about this drawing?"

Lily looked up from where she was carefully (and agonizingly slowly) coloring in the man's eyes. She sighed only once.

"That's _him_ ," She said simply, pointing to the center, "And…that's daddy."

Immediately, Cooper blinked. Lily knew her brothers had been walking on eggshells around her ever since the coma, where she had started to become more interested in what happened to her parents the night they died.

Blaine had a strained smile. "It's very good, Lily, but…maybe you should take a little break. Come have lunch with me while Coop does his thing."

Lily shrugged, moving to get up and follow her other older brother.

As she did, she saw Joe and the petrified stranger move to block the doorway.

"Everything alright, here?" It was Joe who spoke first. The stranger had his eyes fixed on Lily, who stared back.

" _Sebastian?_ " Blaine blinked in surprise, not paying attention to anything else. "What are you doing here?"

"Hi, Blaine," said the stranger, pupils equally reactive, as if he hadn't even seen him yet. "Barry. I mean, I…go by Barry, now. I work here, what are you doing- Oh."

Barry took note of the police officer named Cooper Anderson at the desk behind them, doing paperwork. Blaine followed his eyes, spooked, and nodding slowly.

Lily saw that Barry seemed less startled, now.

"Anyway," said Barry, with no front, "Long time no see, killer." They hugged, an awkward silence beginning. Blaine accepted Barry's hug like it was the most needed thing on earth. "So, here in Central City for Christmas? I thought you'd be with Hummel in New York. At least, that's where I _thought_ you were." Barry said.

"I live here, now." Blaine said, nodding. Lily observed that it was like Blaine was trying to convince himself of that fact, and wondering if he believed himself. "Uh, Kurt's…somewhere…"

He trailed off, his gaze becoming troubled. After the Particle Accelerator explosion, Kurt and Blaine had made up after their most recent fight, but Blaine's long recovery process took a lot out of them as a couple. This time, it was officially over.

"Huh."

There was more silence. "So," Barry began again, "Blaine, meet my foster dad, Joe. Joe, this is Blaine. He's an old friend from Dalton Academy."

"Nice to meet you," said Joe to Blaine, and turned. "Good to see you, too, Lily."

Lily's gaze was traveling around the room. "Hello, Mr. West."

"Hey."

Blaine took a deep breath, sensing opportunity, "I was actually just going to take my sister, Lily, out to lunch. Care to join us, catch up?"

Barry smiled, "Sure."

"Great!" Blaine beamed, "I'll go grab coats." He followed Lily out to the coatrack in the precinct lobby.

It was silent, up until Joe leaned over to Barry and muttered, "Make sure she brings her drawing."

* * *

Lily ended up sitting in a cafe with her second oldest brother and one of his old friends, a drawing between them of a man in a yellow suit with red eyes and a pair of people behind him. One was lying on the ground, a single wound marked on his chest. The other, a young child, stood above him, posted to run.

As Blaine and Barry spoke softly, Lily colored and shaded. They watched her as they talked, but there was one question in particular that Barry was dying to ask.

"…Who is your sister drawing?" Barry asked subtlety, motioning with his head, making Blaine pause. He had been silently watching the eleven year old start two new pictures during their catching up, both of the same scene, but different frames.

"I don't know..." said Blaine, as he watched a little girl and a dying man take shape for the third time.

 _"You didn't believe me," yelled Lily, swinging under Blaine's arm, "No one ever does!"_  
 _  
"Hey," Blaine had said, grabbing the child's shoulder, bony and fragile under his grip. Lily's eyes moved quickly around the room, looking for a way out. She always seemed to find it in the end. "Shh! I know this is hard for you, after everything you missed when you were asleep…but it's been five years, Lily. Let it rest."_  
 _  
"But I know now! I know that isn't true!"_  
 _  
"What?" Blaine was brought up short. Hs sister glared defiantly into his eyes._  
 _  
"I can do things. Incredible things."_  
 _  
"What kind of things-"_

Blaine shook himself out of the memory, where his (then) ten year old sister started remembering things that hadn't actually happened after waking up. Cooper and him had been so happy that she had woken up at _all_ , that they hadn't even considered the consequences and trials that came with her mental recovery. So, of _course_ their parents hadn't been murdered by a man in a yellow suit. The very premise was absurd.

But Blaine was aware of his own abilities, too. Of _course_ he shouldn't be able to grow wings and glide through the night like a bird. He remembered his Superhero Club days at Dalton, where his alter-ego had been Nightbird, but now, he _actually_ had the power.

Lily had confided in him that she could run faster than any man or woman. Blaine compared her abilities to that of the Flash, Central City's very own vigilante that appeared not long after he woke up with his powers. And other people with extraordinary powers were probably out there, too. Cooper had been coming home with more and more confusing cases to work on, and Blaine was almost certain some of them had to do with people like him.

But _not_ their parents' deaths. God, it seemed silly to question that a man like Everett Anderson _wouldn't_ murder his own wife and then commit suicide in front of his six year old daughter, causing her to block out her whole memory of the traumatic event. It seemed silly to question that Lily suddenly making up a version of what happened years later after waking up from a coma (which was entirely unrelated, but the explosion had been equally traumatic) _wasn't_ because of all she suffered. Blaine was going to go mad before the end of this.

But Lily was alive now, and eleven years old. Blaine sat across from her in the cafe, next to Barry Allen, a boy who in high school was a lot more snarky and went by the name Sebastian Smythe. He was going to get an explanation for _that_ one, later.

He wanted to just _ask_ his sister (and Barry, because what kind of person would create a whole new identity for themselves for no reason?), but he didn't know what to say or how to say it. Blaine had been lost for words ever since that night. And most of his high school days.

"Li," Blaine placed his hands slowly on the table, "Is there something you want to tell me?"

Lily only blinked.


	6. Chapter 6

**Interlude I**

* * *

"So…you're saying this girl- what's her name again?" Cisco Ramone paced Barry and Joe's living room as he spoke, the owners of said living room standing behind him.

"Lily Anderson," answered Barry, "She was drawing the Reverse Flash. _Right there_ on her brother's desk."

Cisco frowned. "Whaa?"

The door opened, but all three realized when it was Doctor Caitlin Snow that walked through. "Hey guys, sorry I'm late," she said apologetically, "Did I miss anything?"

"Yeah!" said Cisco in a panic, "There's some crazy girl who knows about the Reverse Flash!"

"She's not crazy," corrected Barry. "The man who- the other guy in the picture, Everett Anderson? He allegedly committed a homicide about six years ago. I think Blaine told me she was really affected by it, by their dad, I mean."

"Who's Blaine?"

"Lily's other brother, besides Cooper, who's the one that works for the CCPD. He's- _Blaine's_ \- also my friend. We met in high school." Barry was rambling.

"So…hang on a second. The Reverse Flash killed Everett Anderson?" Caitlin frowned.

"Wouldn't surprise me," Cisco muttered.

"No," said Joe, his cop face on, "Everett Anderson stabbed his wife and daughter and then turned a gun on himself, according to the files we could dig up. It happened in Westerville, Ohio, which is south of Starling and northeast of Keystone."

"And this _is_ exactly what happened, right?" asked Caitlin, looking to Barry, who had a somewhat affected expression of deep thought on his face.

"Not necessarily." Barry said, after a pause. Decidedly, he continued, "I don't know much about it, and the Central City police only have the files that say that the case was closed because Everett died."

"You can't arrest someone who's dead," chimed in Cisco quietly.

"Exactly."

"But why the Andersons, though? You _barely_ know them. I thought that the man in yellow was only after you," stated Caitlin, still trying to wrap her head around the idea of Harrison Wells being the Reverse Flash.

"I don't know," said Barry. "But I'll have to look more into it."

* * *

 **Lily**

Lily sat at Cooper's desk alone, finishing homework. She hadn't brought her drawing supplies with her today; she did have pencils and her plane sketchbook- the smallest 5 by 7.

And so, Lily drew, but this time, it was of lightning, and of Central City going by in a flash. And of the man in yellow in hot pursuit of a small figure.

While she did, the girl was entirely aware of the fact that Barry Allen was watching her. Lily left a message in the book; the book she left on the desk for him to find…

 _Catch him if you can._

* * *

 **Interlude II**

"She left this for me to find," Barry dropped the small sketchbook on the lab table in front of Joe and Cisco, "It's full of more drawings. And not just Wells, but details about that night, diagrams of the speed force, equations, graphs, but nothing involving me as the Flash."

Cisco and Joe flipped over the cover, examining the book as Barry explained.

"And look," Barry pointed at the scrawled message, _"Catch him if you can."_ His eyebrows were raised, but his face was serious.

"What does she mean by that?" Caitlin was there too. She came closer.

"I _think_ she wants me to help her," Barry guessed, "Maybe it's a challenge? And that's not all- read this…"

He flipped to a page halfway through the book.

 _"February 10th, 2008,"_ Cisco read, _"Dad and mom fought. February 11th, 2008, they died. I start to remember more and more each night, but Coop says I'm making it all up. What I wanted to go away is coming back."_

Angry doodles of two people joined the words in handwriting that the team was able to decipher after a few tries. Lily, apparently, either wrote this at a younger age, or wrote it in a time when she was feeling great emotion.

Barry read the child's words carefully, and if he squinted hard enough, they could have easily been his own. He suddenly could see himself in her situation all those years ago, furious, confused, and told that everything she knew was a lie. He could picture using a small notebook as an outlet, scribbling the truth, but no one would listen or ever read it. The nights, long and interrupted by nightmares, would make him cry and stare down at the desk, hard, longing for his parents back. The nights where he wanted his dad out of prison, and his mom out of the ground.

 _"The man came, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky, but somehow, there was lightning. But not the usual kind of lightning, it was the yellow kind,"_ continued Cisco, his eyes hard as he worked out the spelling errors, _"He came for me, and me only. But he didn't do it right."_

"What does that mean?" Caitlin's voice was low. She and Joe had their eyes on Barry, who was leaning on a desk in the cortex, both hands on the cool surface.

Cisco turned the page. _"In my dreams, it always happens when daddy is upstairs, and mommy and I are in the living room. Cooper says that what happened in real life was that they were both in the kitchen, fighting, which is where dad killed mom, and then hurt me when I got in the way."_

Cisco paused, the words affecting him. "Does this match what the CCPD has, or what she said before?" He asked, putting the book down.

"The CCPD has no record of what happened," Joe said. "Just that the case was ruled a murder-suicide, and the Westerville police closed it up. I guess…there was probably no evidence left by Wells, so there were likely no other suspects besides the dead man holding a gun."

"But guns aren't like Dr. Wells," Caitlin said, shuddering, "They leave a trace."

"But that doesn't mean that he didn't have something to do with it," Barry was glaring at the floor, "We _have_ to stop him." 


End file.
